Leadership Problem in Oxfam Australia: Poor Moral Leadership

Assignment: Leadership problem
Name:

Leadership problem
Oxfam Australia is a non-profitable organization that is independent, secular, its operations are
community based and concerned with development, it is one of the biggest Charity organizations
found in the United Kingdom("Special Issue Leadership Journal: Indigenous Leadership", 2014).
This organization is based in Australia, closely linked with Oxfam International, part of the
organization’s work is long term development projects, campaigning for life improvement for less
fortunate people in the world and responding to emergencies. Their activities depend on funding from
well-wisher, sponsors and partners. The main leadership issue in the organization is a very poor moral
leadership("Forthcoming Changes toBoard Leadership", 2013). Oxfam Australia has been involved in
more than one sex scandal under the watch of the leaders and the management of the organization.
There was an article that alleged that the Oxfam covered up reports that some of the senior staff
members who were in Haiti hired prostitutes, some of them were even under age to be involved in
sexual activities. This allegation was later denied by Oxfam claiming that they did not cover up but
instead, they accepted the fact that their staff members had hired victims at Haiti for sexual favors
which was termed as sexual abuse(Graen, Rowold&Heinitz, 2010).According to the book of Hebrews
chapter 13 verse 4, the bible is against any form of immorality, that those people who do such shall be
judged by God, therefore whatever the staff members did was totally against the will of God. The
Charity stated that the totally unacceptable behavior among its staff was put under internal
investigations immediately where four staff members were dismissed including the director of
operations by then Mr. Van Hauwermeiren, who was said to have used prostitutes at a villa rented for
him by the Oxfam Organization and other three were given a chance to resign before the investigation
came to an end. This wasnot the first time that the Charity was involved in sexual misconduct, reports
state that in 2006 during a mission in Chad, its staff used prostitutes, also led by one Mr. Van. These
are serious allegations that were proved true about the organization and it shows how its leadership is
poor in terms of moral behaviors("Gibbs Leadership Prize: Best Manuscripts of 2017 in Women's
Health Issues", 2018). It raises much concerns even when a whole director of operations is included
in the mix of sexual misconduct during a Charity mission, furthermore they hired victims who they
were supposed to help some of them are said to have been underage.As much as the staff members
were out to do what God wants us to do as Christians and that is helping those who need help, they
forgot their moral obligation of not going against the Christian teachings about sex, they failed to
respect the victims and took advantage of them which is not right. Due to this moral leadership issue,

the organization has experienced a difficult time because some of its donors withdrew their support
financially, one of them was actress Minnie Driver cut off ties with the Charity because she did not
want to be associated with such organizations, and she was the celebrity ambassador for the
Oxfam(Bush, 2010). As much as the Organization stated that there were no cover ups, there were
reports that said the Charity did not disclose all the information concerning the sex scandal. This is
the fault of poor leadership in terms of morals because if the leaders can keep some secrets
concerning such behaviors, it means the culture itself has been cultivated among senior staff members
and does not want to join the public to condemn such actions but instead chose to keep some
information for themselves in the name of carrying out internal investigations(Lumby& Morrison,
2010).Christianity calls for transparency in all aspects and even if they kept it from the eyes and ears
of human beings, God is able to see each and every hidden thing even beneath the earth and so as
leaders, they should have put the matter in the open so that those people who were involved can be
warned and taught the right ways as they serve as an example to the rest who might be planning to do
such immoral things in future.
Literature review
Findings of the readings
Articles have been written by various concerning leadership issues related to the chosen poor moral
leadership(Mitra, 2013). Catey Hill wrote on the Daily News Staff Writer about what makes an
effective leader. Often, poor leadership is directly associated with the person in control of an
organization, institution or a group of people. For it to be said that there is a leadership issue,
probably the supposed leader must have failed(Schriesheim, 2013).A leader is supposed to pray for
wisdom and knowledge from God so that they can be able to know what is wrong and right and how
to lead as an example to the subjects.Still on Catey Hill articles, there is an article that says great
leaders are born and not made; however, people acquire leadership skills through practice.A leader
should be prepared to be committed by all means, it takes a lot of time and hard work, he or she
should be aware of the weaknesses and strengths in them in order to take a personal control. A good
leader has clear visions, goals and above all, principles which will help that person be in control of